ATLANTA – Perched on a pair of director’s chairs opposite each other in Atlanta, champ Jon “Bones” Jones and Rashad Evans tried to wring out the last bit of life in a long, contentious buildup to UFC 145.

They succeeded.

For his part, Jones (15-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) is still enjoying the last few days before they fight. Evans (17-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) isn’t. Regardless, only three days remain until they’re locked in the cage together, free from a storyline that’s imprisoned both.

That meeting takes place Saturday at Atlanta’s Philips Arena. The event’s main card airs live on pay-per-view while prelims go to Facebook and FX.

Certainly, Jones and Evans’ rivalry, which stems from their time as teammates under Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn, is talked out. They’ve already argued face-to-face and in the media about its roots and who’s at fault.

Now, there’s little left to say. Evans couldn’t even bring himself to respond when Jones criticized his handling of the situation.

“What’s the point?” read his expression.

So they meandered politely through a press conference initially set up as a Q&A with UFC broadcaster Jon Anik before expanding to include the media. They spoke about the matchup and the friction between them but felt little behind their words.

Jones actually gave Evans some credit for his development, and Evans said the champ had become more of a man. When Anik gave him the chance to say the older Evans was over the hill, he didn’t bite.

Oddsmakers aren’t as complimentary toward the challenger, of course. Three days before the title fight, they give Evans approximately a 20 percent chance of winning the fight, which he said allowed him to relax and “do me” in the octagon.

Evans provided perhaps the only new wrinkle to his saga with Jones during the media gathering. This week, his management company released a video in which he implied that promotional forces were against him in a bid to retake the belt.

More pointedly, Evans said the UFC didn’t want him to be champ.

Yet today, he clarified that stance. Despite the appearance of bias given by news of the UFC’s “sponsorship” of Jones, he said he was just getting motivated for Saturday.

“I’m a paranoid thinker, you know? In my mind, I’m thinking, like, everybody’s always against me,” he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “So that helps me motivate (myself). Does the UFC want me to have the belt? I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter – I’m going to get the belt anyway.

“The fact that they put me in this position, they have to have some kind of faith in me to know there’s a possibility I could win. If they didn’t want me to have the belt at all, I guess I would never be in this position in the first place. To answer the question, I don’t know, and I really don’t care.”

Contrary to his distant demeanor, Jones said Evans had gotten caught up in the drama between them and would be fighting out of anger on Saturday night. But he, too, clarified his statement.

“The reason why I said I felt Rashad was fighting out of anger is (that) it’s not going to be in the cage looking like this at me and giving me a ‘Rampage,'” Jones said. “What I meant about that was he’s focused so much on the storyline and telling the story about Greg (Jackson) and [Mike Winkeljohn] and how I’m so cocky whereas me, I kind of feel like I’m being more reactive instead of really trying to attack his personality.

“Because I really don’t care about defending my personality. I have a very strong fan base, and I have a very strong hate base, and it is what it is. I realize I’m here to complete a mission, and that’s to have my hand raised. All that pre-fight drama stuff just shouldn’t take too much of your effort. I’ve been focused on tactics since I signed that contract. Tactics and strategy, and strength and cardio.”

Asked what he’d taken anything from the buildup to the fight with Evans, Jones couldn’t answer.

But he might agree with Evans on this point: Choose future training partners more wisely.